Bipolar disorder affects men and women equally, as well as all races, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic classes. Although men and women appear to be equally affected by bipolar disorder, rapid cycling is seen more often in women. Women also tend to experience more depressive and mixed state episodes than do men.
Bipolar disorder is more common in people who have a first-degree relative, such as a sibling or parent, with the condition.
That includes the approximately 5.7 million who've been affected just in the last year alone. And while bipolar disorder affects both men and women in equal numbers, symptoms; comorbidities; rate of diagnosis; and other factors are actually quite different among the sexes.
The average age-of-onset is about 25, but it can occur in the teens, or more uncommonly, in childhood. The condition affects men and women equally, with about 2.8% of the U.S. population diagnosed with bipolar disorder and nearly 83% of cases classified as severe.
Bipolar disorder can occur at any age, although it often develops between the ages of 15 and 19 and rarely develops after 40. Men and women from all backgrounds are equally likely to develop bipolar disorder. The pattern of mood swings in bipolar disorder varies widely between people.
A stressful circumstance or situation often triggers the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Examples of stressful triggers include: the breakdown of a relationship. physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
If one parent has bipolar disorder, there's a 10% chance that their child will develop the illness. If both parents have bipolar disorder, the likelihood of their child developing bipolar disorder rises to 40%.
The life expectancy for someone with bipolar disorder is approximately 67 years old. A 2021 study researched the effect of bipolar disorder on longevity and found that: risk of death is 2.6 times greater than the general population. the average life span is between 8–12 years shorter than the general population.
Bipolar disorder often runs in families, and research suggests this is mostly explained by heredity—people with certain genes are more likely to develop bipolar disorder than others. Many genes are involved, and no one gene can cause the disorder. But genes are not the only factor.
What is Bipolar? Bipolar Disorder is a serious life long mental health condition which features pronounced mood swings. The condition was formerly known as manic depression. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that the condition affects 2.9% of Australians aged 16 and over, or 568,000 people.
Childhood traumatic events are risk factors for developing bipolar disorders, in addition to a more severe clinical presentation over time (primarily an earlier age at onset and an increased risk of suicide attempt and substance misuse).
They found that 12 risk genes for bipolar disorder were also linked to intelligence. In 75 % of these genes, bipolar disorder risk was associated with higher intelligence. In schizophrenia, there was also a genetic overlap with intelligence, but a higher proportion of the genes was associated with cognitive impairment.
Bipolar disorder can be confused with other conditions, such as depression, schizophrenia, BPD, anxiety, and ADHD. Detecting and diagnosing bipolar disorder may take some time. But getting a correct, early diagnosis often results in better outcomes.
How are bipolar disorder mania and anxiety similar? Experiences of mania and anxiety can feel similar. An episode of mania and anxiety can share symptoms like trouble with sleep, racing thoughts, agitation, restlessness, and difficulty concentrating.
Bipolar disorder may worsen with age or over time if the condition is left untreated. As time goes on, a person may experience episodes that are more severe and more frequent than when symptoms first appeared.
Childhood trauma
Some experts believe that experiencing a lot of emotional distress as a child can cause bipolar disorder to develop. This could be because childhood trauma and distress can have a big effect on your ability to manage your emotions.
“When you're in a hypomanic or manic state, you're also more likely to feel you're in love,” says Haase. “You may then act on that feeling when making major long-term life decisions, not understanding your state had something to do with what you were feeling.”
In a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, negative or stressful life events were associated with subsequent mood episodes. It appears that earlier in their course, episodes of depression or mania in bipolar disorder are triggered more often by stressful life events.
Bipolar generally does not go away and requires a lifetime of treatment, but you can develop skills to better manage manic and depressive episodes.
Author: Jasper James. It has long been said that those with bipolar disorder are more creative than average. Famous bipolar individuals of the past include Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, and Winston Churchill.
Individuals in the lowest decile of manic features had a mean full-scale IQ (FSIQ) which was almost 10 points lower than those in the highest decile of manic features: mean FSIQ 100.71 (95% CI 98.74–102.6) v. 110.14 (95% CI 107.79–112.50), P>0.001.